


As Light Refracts

by KawaiiKozume



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Descendants (Disney Movies) Fusion, F/F, F/M, Flirting, M/M, Magic, Multi, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, not on camera but it's hinted at
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28046154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiKozume/pseuds/KawaiiKozume
Summary: Nico's life turns inside out at the age of 16. He wasn't prepared to set on a revenge plot under his mother's pressure and he sure wasn't prepared to trick the Prince of Olympus into falling in love with him (No, really, it was supposed to be Bianca...) but when both of these things happen, he finds himself having to adapt and work through it. Is this really what he wants to do though? Is this how he wants to be remembered?
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo & Zoë Nightshade, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another AU WIP. I'm starting to feel bad over the amount of WIPs I have going right now...Anyways, somehow, when I rewatched Descendants my brain provided the lovely image of Will as Prince Ben and Nico as Mal. So, here's the fruit of those labors.
> 
> TW for CH1: There is a scene where Maria is yelling at Bianca and is being verbally abusive. Skippable from: "How dare you!" to "Nico come here."
> 
> For your information, the list of background ships:  
> Bianca/Zoë (QPP)  
> Leo/Calypso  
> Piper/Jason(Very minor)
> 
> There are brief stints with these ships, but they are not endgame:  
> Will/Reyna  
> Bianca/Octavian  
> Reyna/Octavian
> 
> I will update the tags as I finish writing it but I do not anticipate the rating to go up nor will things get heavier than the past child abuse tag. This tag is very much for Nico and co.'s history on Tartarus Isle. Nothing is shown on camera past the first chapter but there will be after effects and references of it.

Nico di Angelo is only five years old when he is given his friends. His mother was in a “business meeting” and had left him and Bianca sitting outside on wooden stools.

“Do you think Mama’s gonna have a good time?” Nico asked, his legs swinging on both sides of his seat and twisting his fingers around. “I don’t wanna be locked inside today.”

“She seemed to be looking forward to this specific meeting so I think so.” Bianca replied. Her long, dark brown hair was in a ponytail that rested over her right shoulder and Nico thought she looked a little like Mama. They sat there a couple more minutes until Bianca got bored.

“Wanna play Snaps?” She asked, pulling out a card deck she stole from a stranger in an alley.

“Mama said we had to stay sitting.” Nico replied. Mama was a scary woman and Nico had already gotten in trouble that week for not coming home on time.

“One second.” Bianca hopped off her stool and walked around the corner of the building they were sitting outside. A couple minutes passed and Nico was wondering if his sister needed backup but before he could get up, Bianca came back with a tall cardboard box. She set it between their two stools and climbed back up on hers.

“There. Now we can play and keep sitting.” She gave Nico a meaningful look. “I won’t tell Mama how the box got here if you don’t.”

Nico nodded with excitement and wiggled on his stool as Bianca set out cards on the grimy box. The two began the game of flipping cards, trying to match them according to rules and snapping when they’d made their matches. Bianca, being two years older, had a better grasp on the numerical values and was able to stack her cards better. That didn’t mean much to Nico, though. He just liked being able to play. Some rounds he’d try and distract her then steal a good card from her pile but she always knew what he was trying to do.

“Biii, can you let me have just one win?” He whined as Bianca plucked the card he slipped from her pile out of his hands.

“Nope. You gotta be sneakier than that.”

The door to the building opened with a groan and their mother glided out in front of two other adults. Nico and Bianca watched her body to try and figure out what to expect from her. She had a small triumphant smile on her lips and her hands were held outwards. Bianca was right. The meeting had gone well.

“Stand, brats.” Maria di Angelo snapped at her kids. Nico and Bianca rose to their feet and moved to stand in front of her at the ready.

“Today marks a great day for Tartarus Isle. I’m sure you’ve heard of Aphrodite and Hephaestus?” Maria spoke and the siblings turned around to the other two adults. There was a tall woman with golden skin and dark eyes who offered a smile to the children in front of her. Her dark hair was braided with what looked like painted gold paper interwoven in it. The man next to her was hunched over and had scars criss crossing up and down his dark arms. He leaned on a silver metal cane and when he smiled, Nico noticed he was missing a couple teeth.

“They’re going to be working for - with me, I mean, to control the main Isle. With our three spheres of influence, we’ll have control in no time.” Maria explained. A shadow shifted behind the two adults and Nico stepped forward to look between them. He found himself meeting hazel eyes and took a step back with a start.

“Ah, yes. Well, it was a matter of time we got this over with.” Aphrodite said. Her voice was nasally and high. It grated on Nico’s ears.

“Piper, come.” A girl around their age stepped out from behind Aphrodite. She watched Nico and Bianca with interest.

“Oh, where is that boy?” Hephaestus growled gazing off into the nearby alley.

“I expect you two to get along with Piper and Leo. You don’t have to be nice, but you need to keep together. Bianca, you know what this means.” Maria levelled Bianca with a stern look.

“Yes, Mama.” Bianca replied. Nico continued to watch Piper who stared back.

“To the tower!” Maria cried and turned towards the center of the island they lived on. Aphrodite and Hephaestus followed her, leaving the three kids behind to work amongst themselves.

“Hi there.” Bianca said to the girl. “I’m Bianca, this is Nico.”

The girl tilted her chin up and gave both siblings a once over.

“I’m Piper.”

The three stood around and Nico was quickly losing interest in this snobby girl. He kicked at a crack in the ground when something flashed a light catching his attention. He looked towards the alley it came from and started walking off that direction.

“Nico?” Bianca called after him. He ignored her and stepped into the shadows. He knew that the shadows weren’t a place for a five year old but he wanted to know what the light was. He was five steps in when somebody pushed him into the brick wall to his left.

“Gotcha!” A small boy’s voice rang out. Piper and Bianca yelped in surprise and the boy started cackling. He stepped away from Nico and fell to the floor, holding his sides.

“You should have seen your face!” He cried. “That was awesome!” A light flickered then came on fully illuminating the area. It came from a saucer with wires sticking out of it that was sitting in the hands of a boy with elfish features. His brown eyes were alight with mischief and he must have lost a tooth recently because there was a gap in his top row of teeth when he grinned at Nico.

“Ugh! Leo!” Piper yelled at him. This only caused the boy to laugh harder. Bianca reached out to pull Nico to herself and glared at the boy with disdain.

“What’s your game?” She spat. Leo sat up and looked up at her.

“I’m only trying to get to know you.” He said. Bianca frowned at him.

“Bianca, Nico, meet Leo.” Piper said from behind Bianca. “He’s Hephaestus’ son.”

Leo grinned and gave a little wave of his hand. And from that moment on, Nico was always with Bianca, Leo and Piper. For better or for worse.

***

Nico di Angelo is six when his sister is tossed aside by his mother and he is given direct control of his clique. Their mother discovered Bianca was helping kids like them move into Triton’s Orphanage. The keyword was  _ helping _ and Maria didn’t like helping one bit.

“How  _ dare _ you! I gave you this gift of life, I gave you this Isle, this power, and what have you done with it? You made yourself weak is what!” Mama shouted. Nico flinched on the other side of the sheet that separated him from his sister and mother.

“ _ Helping children. _ Gods, Bianca! Could you get any softer!” Bianca was crying and each hiccup made Nico cringe. Mama was right though. If Bianca was crying, she had gone soft.

“Stop crying,  _ now _ . Or I’ll give you something to cry about.” And just like that, Bianca’s hiccups stopped. It’s silent for a moment and Nico thinks it’s over. But then their Mama speaks again.

“Nico. Come here.” Nico moved the curtain aside and went to stand in front of Mama. He didn’t look at Bianca, afraid of what Mama would do if he did.

“Your sister has failed me. She’s stained our reputation and now I need you to step up and fix it.” Mama glared at Bianca and Nico ignored the burning desire to check on his sister. “That means, you now lead your little group. And you  _ will _ make it a priority to be mean. Understood?”

_ Be mean? _ Nico didn’t  _ want _ to be mean. He didn’t want to lead either. He forgot his mother’s ire at Bianca and glanced over to her. Her eyes shone with an apology. One that Nico didn’t want. The setting sun cast shadows over their room and Nico swallowed a pill of resentment towards Bianca. He turned his anger filled gaze to Mama.

“Yes, Mama. I’ll do better.”

***

Nico di Angelo is seven years old when he makes his first archenemy. He’s sitting in a sandpit on the school playground waiting for Bianca, Piper and Leo when a girl with long, wild blond hair comes up and starts playing in the sandpit. There’s something about her that Nico can’t quite put his finger on so he stares at her in between looking for Bianca.

“Why are you staring?” She asked. Nico jumped and ignored her for favor of dragging a stick through the sand.

“I’m Annabeth.” The girl said. He continued to ignore her until Bianca came up to him with Piper and Leo trailing behind her.

“Neeks. What are you building?” Bianca asked gesturing to the crumbling sand castle Nico was building.

“A castle.” Nico frowned at the shape.

“Oh, a castle!” Piper cried out before bending over and tapping the top of one of the towers.

“Okay, well, we were talking about going to the Highlands today. Is that okay?” Bianca asked. Nico scowled at the sand. He hated the Highlands. Persephone’s garden always gave him the creeps.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” He stood up and wiped the sand off his pants.

“Could I come too?” The girl, Annabeth, asked. She had been silent during the entire exchange between Nico and his friends.

“You?” Leo scoffed. “Sorry, know-it-alls aren’t allowed.”

Nico gave Leo a sour look.

“I think that’s for me to decide, don’t you?” He muttered. Leo’s smirk fell and he looked away.

“Yeah.” He grumbled.

“Why should we let you come?” Nico asked. Annabeth’s mouth fell open.

“Because...um...I could tell you interesting things?” She offered. It hit Nico, then, what it was that he couldn’t put his finger on.

“Goldilocks.” He said. Annabeth tilted her head and behind him, Piper snorted at Nico’s comment.

“Oh gods, Neeks. You’re right. She is Goldilocks. The wild, blond hair, the blue eyes. It fits!” Piper started laughing and Nico didn’t feel great but Piper’s laugh was always contagious. Nico laughed softly.

“I’m not Goldilocks!” Annabeth tried to correct them. Bianca nudged Nico's shoulder and gave him a look.

“I think Leo may be right.” Nico said. “We don’t like know-it-alls, Goldilocks.”

The four left school grounds and into their own adventure. Annabeth was left with sand and angry, hot tears.

***

Nico di Angelo is 16 when his life changes entirely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is double the word count of chapter 1...I'm honestly impressed.  
> We're still on the Isle but we see what's going on in Olympus!
> 
> References of child abuse in this chapter.

The sun is high in the sky as Will stands still for his fitting. The coronation is in a week and the pressure is heavy. He’s getting properly nervous about it now that it’s so close.

“...and Kayla’s lessons…” Will hears his father’s voice from outside the office and he bites his lip thinking about what he’s about to tell his parents. He glances at an island out the window.

It’s a dark, looming monstrosity with steam and smoke billowing up from buildings scattered around it. The clouds over it are dark and always look like they’re threatening to rain. The surrounding sparkling blue water gives way for brown, murky colors as it gets closer to the island. Will knows the island houses the most dangerous people from an old society, one that hasn’t been heard of since his father assumed leadership of Olympus and the surrounding areas.

“Good morning, Will.” Naomi Solace was a kind woman. Her face was young and her eyes were always calm and kind. She was in a white sundress with yellow splotches on it that shifted as warm air moved in the room.

“Good morning, mother...father.” Will responds. His father came in moments behind his mother and set his hands on her shoulders. He looks at Will with pride shining in his blue eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re going to be king.” Apollo says. “It seems like just yesterday you were knocking Kayla’s tea parties awry.”

“He’s going to be 16, love.” Naomi says for Will.

“16.” Apollo says. “16 is too young. I didn’t make a good decision until I was 32.”

“You proposed to me when you were 23.” Naomi comments. Apollo’s eyes widens.

“Well it was either you or Daphne.” Apollo shot Will a wink and Will cringes as his mother slapped Apollo’s arm.

“I’m kidding.” Apollo kisses Naomi’s cheek and steps away from her. The family falls silent as Will’s seamster continues pinning his pant leg. Will clears his throat.

“Mom, dad, I’ve decided on my first official proclamation.” His heart is thudding in his throat as his parents look at him with a mix of surprise and support. He swallows his heart back into his chest and glances at the Isle behind them.

“I think the children on Tartarus Isle should be given the chance to try living here at Olympus.”

Naomi’s mouth falls open, one of Apollo’s eyebrows rise and the seamster stops his work and stares up at Will. Will continues on.

“Everytime I look at the Isle, all I can think about are the kids, like me, who have never been given a chance.” Will steps off his podium and the seamster cringes. “I feel like they’ve been abandoned.”

Naomi had closed her mouth by now and seemed to be considering Will’s declaration. Apollo, on the other hand, seems to be closed off to the idea.

“The children of those monsters? Living among _us_?” He asks with an edge to his tone. Will takes a breath and stands tall.

“Yes.” Will sas. “We’d start with a few- four- at first, then we bring more.” Will takes a pause. “We’d rehabilitate their evil tendencies...I’ve already chosen the first four.”

“You have?” Apollo gives Will a sharp look. Naomi sets a hand on Apollo’s arm to calm him down.

“I gave you a second chance.” Naomi reminds him. Apollo settles back. “Who are their parents, dear?”

Will glances down at his feet, debating who to start with, and after coming to a quick decision, he looks back at his mother.

“Hephaestus.” His mother nods encouragingly. “Aphrodite.” His father inhales sharply. “And...Maria di Angelo.”

The seamster who had taken a seat on the podium gasps, drops his book then scrambles to collect his kit.

“Di Angelo?!” Apollo shouts. Will sees the seamster bow and scurry out of the room.

“Di Angelo?!” Apollo repeats. “She’s one of the most dangerous women out there!”

“Dad, please, hear me out.” Will tries to plead. He glances at his mother who is watching the two like a tennis match.

“They are _all_ guilty of horrific crimes, Will. We can’t just have these...villains roaming free.”

“Their children are _innocent_ , though.” Will chuckles at his father’s unreasonability. “Don’t you think they deserve a chance to live normal lives?”

That causes Apollo to pause. He glances at Naomi who only looks back. Will can’t decide which side she’s on. Apollo closes his eyes and sighs.

“I...suppose their children _are_ innocent.” Apollo concedes. He turns away from Will back toward the door they both came through. Naomi steps forward and straightens Will’s bowtie.

“Well done.” She whispers to him. Will grins at his mother. She steps away and Will looks back at his father who was now watching his wife and son.

“This will be a very difficult period, you know this?” He asks. Will only stands straighter and looks at him with confidence.

“I do and I’m willing to give it everything I have.”

“Okay, okay.”

Naomi walks up and takes Apollo’s arm. “Well, shall we head to lunch?”

The two walk out of the room leaving Will to his own thoughts. His gaze once again lands on Tartarus Isle and it hits him just how difficult this process could be. He only hopes he made the right choice on the first set of kids to come over.

***

Camera lights flash as Will walks out from the castle to make his announcement. His mother and father are standing next to his brother, sister and aunt, leaving the podium open for Will to step up to. He swallows and approaches the stand. He taps the mic and hears it come through speakers. Cameras are still flashing around him.

“Good morning, Olympus.” He gives the camera recording a soft, reassuring smile. “As the new school year starts, and a new generation takes the throne, I’ve come to a decision that I think will push Olympus forward.”

Will looks out in the crowd of faces and spots a few familiar ones. His girlfriend, Reyna, is standing next to her mother. His friends standing together, awaiting his proclamation. Octavian watches with bland interest. Frank, Calypso and Zoë are smiling up at him. He closes his eyes and takes a breath, already aware of the panic that is going to ensue.

“As of this week, we will be hosting four children from Tartarus Isle. We will, hopefully, rehabilitate them, give them an education, and provide a chance at a normal life here in Olympus.”

As he spoke, people began talking and sharing looks of surprise and fear. After he finished, reporters clamored to have their questions answered. They speak over each other, all trying to get Will’s attention.

“Okay, okay now. Let’s calm down and have order.” Artemis steps in from Apollo’s side. She smiles at the reporters who are still nervous. “I’m sure that if we give him a chance, Will can answer all of your questions.”

***

Across the water, Nico di Angelo was directing his friends in moving trash around the Isle.

“Neeks, this is gross.” Piper whines as she hauls a cardboard flap with rotting sewage and trash on it. She had a clip pinching her nose shut and a scowl on her face.

“Hey, entertainment isn’t easy. Drop it right there.” Nico points at the gutter just outside a door. “They’ll have to step there.”

“What are you two doin’?” Leo asks slinging an arm around Nico.

“Trash.”

“Gnarly.”

“We grabbed food.” Bianca says coming up on Nico’s left. Piper steps back from her mess and takes the clip off her nose. All four stand there and tilt their heads, examining the finished job. Nico shrugs.

“Oh well, it’ll work.” He turns to Bianca. “What did you snag today?”

“Well, we ran through the Marketplace so we’ve got a variety.” Bianca opens her bag and dumps out a mix of bruised fruit, off smelling meat and bread with questionable coloring.

“Oh! I want the apple!” Piper reaches for the apple with a gray tint to it. They split up the rest of the food and sit on the curb eating.

See, on the Isle, they couldn’t die. Simple as that. Whether they were in a fight or they got sick or something else, if you lived on the Isle, you couldn’t die. It was torture to get sick and feel so close to dying but never really getting there. Nico’s only been sick like that once before in his life and, if asked, he would tell you he begged for death if only to end the pain.

In the distance, something happens that causes a bunch of people to cry out.

"That sounds like fun." Nico comments. He's eaten around the mold on his bread and tosses the remaining green bits into the gutter. Leo tosses a banana peel into the pile of trash Piper moved earlier.

"We should go stop it then, eh?" He gives Nico a wild grin. "Ladies? Ready?"

Bianca and Piper share a look but stand up nonetheless.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go."

Nico is already cutting through an alley into the street where the chaos erupted. When the four chaos mongers emerged, there were people standing about in the street watching the largest screen on the Isle.

On screen, Prince William was trying to answer questions in rapidfire succession. The picture flickers with static, comes back only slightly clearer and then shuts off completely.

"C'mon!"

"Ugh, really?"

"Hades is so _cheap_."

The crowd's annoyance and disgust fade as the crowd disperses. Bianca grabs onto a man's arm.

"What was the announcement?" She demands.

"I ain't telling a goody."

"Answer her." Leo stands taller by her side. The man curses and spits on the floor.

"Ol' princey was telling us brats like you get to escape this hell." The man wrenches his arm out of Bianca’s grasp and walks off.

“What crawled up his as-”

More noise rises in the distance and Nico takes off towards it. _Escape this hell?_

“...and we’re already taking precautions to ensure only the kids come.” Prince William’s voice comes through.

“He was telling the truth?” Piper asks.

“Will, how are you sure these kids are fit to live among us?” A reporter asks.

“I’m not.” A surge of uncertainty filters through the reporters. “But I am confident in Artemis’ rehabilitation abilities. We’ve been sitting down and reviewing the curriculum, well, my father, Artemis and I have. I can only say so much about education.”

“Hey!” A familiar voice calls through the crowd and Nico jumps. A blond kid, the same age as Bianca, starts pushing through the crowd towards the Chaos Crew.

“Split. Meet at the Tower.” Nico directs. The four part ways as the kid pushes another person aside. Nico races through alleys, jumping over overfilled trash cans and ducking under clotheslines. Footsteps land on the pavement behind him and he curses internally. As he runs under the next clothes line, he yanks it out of the wall causing clothes to hit the grimy floor and trip his pursuers. He risks glancing back and sees the blond kid is still chasing. He takes a sharp turn around a corner and pushes through the entrance of the Marketplace. He jumps on one of the vendor tables and runs along hopping to others as he needs to. He reaches his destination: a thick wooden beam that’s connected to a window. He grabs it and pulls himself up then crawls out the window.

“Damn right, di Angelo! Better run!” The blond shouts. Nico turns around and pokes his head through the window.

“Trying to fight? Right here?”

The blond shuts his mouth and looks down.

“Didn’t think so.”

The blond sucks his teeth.

“Cap’n says next time you come around, she’ll take you on herself.”

“Ha,” Nico laughs, “She’s too afraid to and you know it.”

“Just stay on your side of the line.”

“Sure.” Nico smirks at him. “Now run back to her like a good watch dog.”

The blond’s glare is venomous and Nico can’t help but grin at the receding back as he leaves the Marketplace out the other side. Once he’s out of sight, Nico takes a breath of relief. He stands on the roof of the building he crawled out on. From here, he has a good view of the entire Isle. He sees Lady Hecate sweeping the steps of her storefront, a little girl sneaking into Hades’ tunnel, and a group of kids entering Mr. D’s arcade in the central section. In the distance he can see pirate wannabes and the port and in the opposite direction, the Shunned Shacks stand with no sign of movement in their tiny section.

He raises his gaze a little higher, like he often does when he’s sure he’s alone with no chance of being caught, and he sets his gaze on Olympus. It’s gold accents shimmer in the midafternoon sunlight he’s never experienced and he wonders for a brief moment which kids would be chosen to go ashore. He secretly hoped Bianca would be one. She didn’t belong on the Isle and _everyone_ knew it. As much as it would hurt to not have her, he wanted her to be safe. Something reflects light in Olympus and Nico looks away. He decides he spent enough time daydreaming. He slides down a pipe on the wall and walks the rest of the way to the Tower.

“Nico!” Bianca cries as he emerges from the shadows. She throws her arms around him and squeezes. “I thought he caught you.”

“Please.” Nico huffs. “Grace can’t catch anything with a brain, it’s too smart for him.”

“Still glad you returned.” Leo comments. Piper nods next to him.

“Think we still have time to run?” She asks. Nico looks up at the Tower. It’s a tall, circular building that has two entrances. The front entrance, where they met up, is a set of double doors that are taller than needed. The second entrance is a special entrance Leo rigged after moving in. Something applies pressure against a sign, the sign swings back which triggers a seemingly innocent gate to rise revealing a stairwell. The special entrance had become the Chaos Crew’s main entrance over time.

When Nico looks up at the top of the Tower where he and his friends lived with their parents, he sees his mother glaring down at them. He closes his eyes in frustration and responds.

“No, I don’t. Mother’s seen us.” He opens his eyes and sighs. “In we go.”

Leo opens one of the large doors and swings his arm in an ‘After you’ motion. Nico leads the group up the tall, winding staircase and through the curtain separating the stairwell and the living area.

“Nico.” Maria states as soon as Nico enters the room. “Report.”

“Well, I can say the streets are a little more _trashy_ now. Bianca stole from the Marketplace and they didn’t even notice. Oh, and I took Grace for a run.” Nico’s voice holds very thinly veiled contempt for his mother who’s smile grows as he tells her what they had accomplished that day.

“That’s my vicious boy.” She says. “Next time you’re out, lock Hecate’s door, hm?”

“Mom.” Nico says with a glare.

“It’s the little things, _soldatino_.” His mother leans back against the railing of the balcony overlooking her empire. “Make them fear you first, then they’ll do anything.”

“Oh!” She cries. “There’s news! Come, sit, all of you.”

Nico catches Piper’s eye and she raises an eyebrow at him. He shrugs in response.

“Dite! Stus!” Maria calls further into their tower.

“Yes, yes, coming!” Aphrodite responds. She glides into the room with a dreamy smile. Her blond hair fell around her shoulders and she perched on the armrest of the ratty couch. Hephaestus’ heavy footfalls sound in the hallway and Nico notices Leo’s flinch at the first one. Nico scowls at the reaction and makes a mental note to drop a rat in the man’s favorite mug next time he finds one.

“I’m sure you haven’t heard because you were so busy this morning, but today, the sun’s welp announced children of the Isle would be given the chance to live in Olympus.” Maria began explaining. Nico knew he shouldn’t interrupt so he kept his head down and played with his fingers in his lap.

“Well, he’s also announced who would be going.”

Silence fills every empty space in the room.

“Do I have to spell it out for you four? Gods, I know you’re thick but I didn’t realize it was this bad. Maybe a new school would be good for you.” Maria snaps. “It’s you! The four of you are going to Olympus.”

Bianca’s head shoots up and looks at her mother.

“All four of us?” She asks, her voice full of disbelief.

“Unfortunately.” Maria replies.

“I’m not going.” Nico states. He stands from the table and looks at Maria. “Let them take a different kid. I’m not going to some boarding school full of snobby goodies.”

The others nod in agreement as Maria smiles at him with some pride.

“Ugh, old age makes you soft.” She snaps. “You’re going, though. No argument.”

Nico doesn’t back down and raises his chin defiantly.

“Why should I?” He asks. Maria clicks her tongue.

“Finally asking the important questions!” Maria cries. “You’re going because while you’re there, you are going to steal Artemis’ bow, free us, and if you’re quick, I’ll let you keep the bow.”

Nico grinds his teeth together as he considers the plan. He glances back at his friends.

“Why?”

“Don’t you love seeing people suffer?” Maria gives him a soft look. “Free me and we’ll take over the world. All it takes is one medium-sized bow.”

“What’s in it for us?” Nico asks. He wants to make sure his friends are secure.

“Uh, matching thrones, crowns, duh.” Maria says.

“I think he was asking about _us_.” Leo says from his seat. Maria curls her finger to Nico.

“It’s just about you and me.”

Nico rolls his eyes.

“ _Soldatino_ , get me that bow, and I can make people cower at the mere mention of my name again.”

“Our names.” Aphrodite comments from her perch. Nico looks over to see her moving to sit in front of Piper.

“Hmph.” Hephaestus grunts in affirmation.

“Our names, okay.” Maria placates her partners then snaps, getting Nico’s attention. “And if you refuse...well, ask your sister how that goes.”

Nico’s teeth squeaks as he clenches his jaw. Maria leans down staring at his eyes. Nico tries to hold his ground and feels something trying to shift in him, startling him. Shivers go down his spine and he breaks eye contact.

“Fine.” He mutters.

“Perfect.” Maria sighs leaning back.

“Piper, look at me.” Aphrodite pulls her daughter’s face and holds it in place as she holds up tweezers. “I just want you to find someone who has lots of space and-”

“Lots of mirrors. Yes, mother.”

“Ah! Good girl, let’s fix your eyebrows now.” Piper frowns and leans forward, allowing Aphrodite to start plucking at her face.

“I’m still not sold on Leo going.” Hephaestus says. He’s looking at Leo like the boy is a tool to be used. “I’d miss him.”

“Really?” Leo asks with wide eyes.

“Well of course. Who else would bring me new supplies and test things out for me?”

“Maybe Olympus wouldn’t be so bad.” Leo mutters.

“What is wrong with you two?” Maria cries. She steps off the balcony and the kids press against the wall out of her way. “We have the first chance in 20 years to get off this floating rock and get revenge!”

Maria points at Aphrodite.

“Revenge on Hermes who saw through your beauty.” Aphrodite hisses.

“Revenge on Ares for losing your pets!” Maria gestures at Hephaestus who growls.

“I’ll kil-” He starts.

“Dad.” Leo puts a shaky hand on his arm.

“And me, I’ll finally put that high and mighty _princess_ away for good.” Maria inhales. She moves to sit on Aphrodite’s lap and picks up the mirror on the table.

“Today is our day. It all starts with that bow. Dite!” Everyone jumps. “Give her your mirror.”

“ _The_ mirror?” Piper asks, accepting the small hand mirror from her mother.

“It will help you find things if you ask.” Aphrodite tells her.

“Like love?" She asks.

"Like the bow!" Maria shouts standing up. "Nico, come." She wanders over to the broken refrigerator and tries to open it without unlatching it. "How do I- I can never get this open!"

Bianca steps up and unlatches the door. Maria reaches in the top and pulls out a book with frost on it. (Being broken meant freezing anything that went in it.)

"My spellbook." Maria says excitedly. She holds it out to Nico who reaches to take it but Maria pulls it back and speaks.

"This is my prized possession. It doesn't work here of course, but it will in Olympus." Maria looks at Aphrodite. "Ugh, remember when we were the ones ruining lives?"

"You're getting soft, Mari." Maria waved the blond's comment away.

"Now it's your turn." Maria hands the spellbook to Nico. "By doing exactly what I tell you to do. Door.”

Bianca shuts the refrigerator door and shares a look with Nico.

“Well, guess we better go get packed, huh?” Nico begins. Leo and Piper take the hint and extricate themselves away from their parents as well.

“Yes, go pack. You leave tomorrow.” Maria dismisses the Chaos Crew and Nico leads them out the curtain and further up the stairs to their shared room. It was silent as they began pulling out backpacks and clothes.

“The walls have ears?” Piper asks.

“Probably. Sunset Point 10.” Nico responds. Over time, the four managed to create their own language, one that not even their parents understood. Bianca walks over to stand next to Nico with her pile of clothes.

“Hey,” She whispers, “Don’t be too freaked about mom. If anything, when we get there, we could, I don’t know, tell someone?”

“And never come back to see her?” He whispers back. “And you know? Maybe the goodies deserve to be reminded life sucks over here.”

Bianca stays quiet at that.

“Our lives can’t always suck, Bi.”

10 minutes later, the four are sneaking out their back entrance and racing through the streets. They climb up to the roof of the same building Nico had found safety from earlier that day.

“So, Olympus.” Leo says. The sun is setting which means it’s one of the two times sunlight hits the Isle and the residents on it.

“At least it’s not Annabeth going and we’re stuck.” Piper jokes.

“That’s true, we can hold it over her head next time she stirs shit up.” Leo says. “What do you think, Neeks?”

“Right now,” Nico says, “I’m thinking about the sunlight and how we’ll see it all day instead of just sunrise and sunset.”

“I meant about Olympus.”

“I think we have a job and we should just get in and get out.”

Bianca wilts next to him.

“We don’t belong there, guys.” Nico sighs. “They’re a bunch of goodies and we may not wanna be evil, but we are.”

They’re silent the rest of the sunset and on the way back to their room. Nico launches a rock, triggering the gate lift and makes sure Piper, Bianca and Leo get inside before him. They’re all laying in bed, listening for each other’s heavy breathing, when Piper speaks.

“We bring chaos.” She whispers.

“To everyone, everywhere.” The other three whisper back.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Solangelo meet!!
> 
> Warning for a brief panic attack at the end of the chapter from "The dark is bad." to "He opens his eyes and the afternoon sunlight is back."
> 
> The siblings speak to each other in Italian, the translations are in parentheses after the sentence.
> 
> As always, I'm grateful for readers and kudos and comments. I hope our 2021 is magnificent and brings all wonderfully, great things to us.

Morning comes too quickly for Nico's liking. He wakes with the sounds of thumping under him.

"Come on, brats!" His mother is yelling again. "It's time!"

Nico sits up and rubs his eyes. He hears movement around him so he assumes the others are getting dressed and ready.

" _ Buongiorno, sei pronto _ ?" Bianca asks from across the room.(Good morning, you ready?)

" _ No _ ," Nico scoffs, " _ Non voglio andare _ ."(No, I don't want to go.)

"You two are obnoxious. It's way too early to try and translate." Leo complains. Bianca clicks her tongue.

" _ Zito contadino _ ." She snaps.(Shut up, peasant.) Nico laughs at Leo's scandalized expression then turns to get changed. He lets his thoughts wander as he pulls his bags together.

"Well, we've put it off as long as we could." Piper says. "It's time to go."

Nico shoulders his backpack and picks up his duffel bag then takes a last look at their room. The mattresses on the floor and the curtains hanging from the ceiling to separate each one from the other. He takes a deep breath and then turns to lead the group downstairs. When they arrive, Maria is standing at the balcony.

"She's waiting for the car." Aphrodite explains. "It's already left the school."

"Bianca, take the bags downstairs." Maria says without turning around.

"I'll be right there." Nico whispers to his sister as she hooks her arms through the handles of the bags. After she leaves, Maria speaks again.

"Come, Nico."

Leo sets a hand on Nico's shoulder and gives him an encouraging squeeze. Piper nods at him then both fall back. Nico walks up the step to the balcony then stands beside his mother.

"I don't think I need to remind you just how important this is." She speaks as if she were discussing the weather instead of treason.

"Of course."

"I expect you not to let any of  _ them _ get in the way." Nico understands immediately that she means his friends. He glances behind them and sees Hephaestus talking to Leo, a hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. Piper holds a mirror up for her mother to examine her reflection. Bianca walks back in and hovers at the base of the balcony, watching Nico and Maria.

"Of course." He tries to stay quiet after that but there's been a nagging question on his mind since the night before. "Mother, what does Artermis' bow have to do with freeing us?"

Maria glances at him out of the corner of her eye then she scoffs.

"The bow is magic. If you draw back to shoot, an arrow forms for what your intention is. In your case, draw back, aim at the Isle then release. The arrow should shatter the barrier and we'll be on our way." Maria explains. Nico's brows furrow as he tries to envision what it would look like.

"It's time." Maria says softly. Nico looks up and sees a long, sleek limousine roll up to a stop outside their tower.

"Run along now. Make me proud."

With that dismissal, Nico turns and leaves his mother watching over everything. Piper is practically skipping out the door at the base of the stairs when he arrives. He shoves his duffel bag toward the driver who then put it in the trunk.

"Get back here, boy!" Hephaestus' voice echoes through the tower and out the door. It follows Leo who jumps over the last three steps, drops his bag in the trunk and dives into the car, cutting Nico's entry. Nico looks back to see Hephaestus glaring at the car. He looks up to where he knows his mother is watching still. She smiles down and him, nodding. He sighs and slides into the car.

The trunk of the car closes and the driver gets in behind the wheel. There's a divider window that's rolled up so the kids can only see out of the side windows. The car moves forward and buildings start rolling by. 

The car is so clean and organized inside it almost has Nico's head spinning. There are trays of brightly colored food along one side. There's what looks like a video game system on the other and a cut out rectangle in the roof. Leo messes with a remote and something starts slowly falling down from the roof. It's a TV whose dark screen reflects the riders in the car.

Piper turns to Bianca holding a palette and starts brushing something on her face.

"Oh, Pipes, no." Bianca says.

"It's just blush. You look a little pale."

"That's fine. Stop."

Piper withdraws her hands and puts the palette away. Leo holds out a handful of brightly colored food to her and Piper takes one, pops it in her mouth and then her eyes widen as Leo nods vigorously.

"I think it's chocolate." He says. That's all it takes before the two are fighting over the different kinds of candy. Nico finds another remote stuffed between his cushion and the one next to him. He pulls it out and presses down on the only button on it. The black divider between the driver and the kids comes down. Bianca looks outside and gasps.

"Guys!" She shouts. They all turn to attention to see the end of the broken bridge in front of them. The driver doesn't stop or slow down. Nico's eyes widen as he realizes this must have been a trick. Leo, Piper and Bianca huddle together, clinging to each other and yelling nonsense. There's a bright yellow spiral that emanates from the car then across the water and the car rolls over the end of the bridge. Except they don't fall.

The yelling dies down and Nico leans up to the driver.

"Did this button just open the barrier?" He demands.

"No, this one did." The driver waves a very small remote with a single switch button on it. "And this one..." He raises his hand to the roof of the car and presses something that causes the black divider to rise, effectively cutting Nico's next words off. Nico turns to his friends with a small smile.

"He's rude, I like that."

There's a thumping sound and the four kids look up to see a fish flopping on the trunk. Nico looks back towards the group of people standing on the other side of the barrier in search of the culprit.

"Neeks, the paper." Leo says, drawing Nico's attention back to the now still fish. Stabbed in it is a sandwich skewer and a paper with a blue trident. On top of one of the peaks, a rough owl sits and glares at Nico.

"Annabeth." Piper says, her voice a touch too gleeful.

"She's pissed." Bianca says softly.

"Let her be." Nico replies. He shivers as a light tingling sensation settles in the base of his back. He frowns, then waves it off to settle in for the rest of the drive.

***

The sun is shining behind the school when the limo pulls up. Nico sees all the people gathered in sectioned groups and he wants to make them scatter.

"Why're there so many people here?" Leo asks. Nico glances over and sees Bianca wipe chocolate off his face.

"Guess we'll find out, won't we?" Nico replies. The car comes to a halt and Nico grabs his backpack. Leo begins shoving candy in his and Bianca is trying to force the video game console into her own. The door opens and Piper slides out first. Leo and Bianca begin arguing over a laptop.

"Give me-"

"Why do you need this? You've already got the console!"

"Because you want it!"

The two tumble out from the car still arguing and pulling on the slick computer. Nico pokes his head out and squints against the sun.

"Hey." He says. Both Leo and Bianca freeze. "We've got an audience."

Nico steps out of the limo and stands at the end of their line facing the school. The tingling is now through his entire spine, but still dull and manageable. A woman in a knee length dress, the color like liquid silver, steps out from one of the groups of Olympians in front of the four with Prince William and a girl with long, dark brown hair that’s laid over her shoulder behind her.

"How about we leave it how we found it, hm?" She asks. "Or let's start by just leaving it."

Leo and Bianca glance at each other and Nico bites his lip to avoid laughing at their crestfallen faces. The two throw the laptop, video game console and half of Leo's candy back in the limo. When they turn back, it seems that Leo realizes the girl standing in front of them.

“Helloo, mamacita.” He says, taking a step forward. Piper grabs him by the collar and pulls him back.

“Nuh, uh.” She says, voice a step lower than her normal tone. This was usually an indication that she meant business and was about to hit someone. Leo looked away from everyone and started whistling.

"Yes, well, welcome to Olympus Preparatory." The woman says. "I'm Artemis, the headmistress here."

"Artemis?" Nico cuts her off. "Like,  _ the _ Artemis? Who helped Phoebe beat Orion?"

Nico is pleased that he did a little research late in the night last night. Artemis' face falls into a graceful smile and she nods.

"Exactly that one. I'm impressed, young man."

Nico forces a blush to his cheeks and he waves off the compliment.

“I’ve just always wondered what it felt like when you burst through the treeline with that bow, and you’re reassuring smile...and that bow.” He rambles but judging by Artemis’ face, there wasn’t a problem with that.

“Yes, well that was a long time ago,” She says. “And I like to say now that if you pay too much attention to the past, you’ll miss the present.”

Nico smiles and nods. Prince William steps up from Artemis’ side and clasps his hands together in an almost prayer-like bow.

“It’s so nice to finally have you here.” He starts speaking. “I’m Will.”

“Prince William.” The girl beside him interjects. “Future king.” Her voice squeaks and she looks at him with great admiration.

“Prince?” Piper asks, twirling a strand of her hair. “My mother is a queen, which technically makes me a princess.”

Nico almost laughs again. She was laying it on a little too thick but it seemed to be working. Will’s eyes were drawn to her hand still twirling the hair around her fingers.

“Queen Aphrodite has no royal status here in Olympus.” The girl at Will’s side says, shaking her head. “And neither do you.”

Piper drops her hand and her eyes harden, now focused on the girl. Nico wants to laugh at Piper’s expression but he also kinda really wants to punch the girl for being mean to his friend. Bianca sets a hand on his shoulder and he unclenches the fist that had subconsciously balled up at his side. A glance at Leo tells Nico that he wasn’t the only one about to get sent back to the Isle.

“Nix.” He says and Leo goes back to staring off at something else. In front of them, Will gives an awkward chuckle.

“This is Reyna.” He says, gesturing to the girl.

“Princess,” Reyna cuts him off again. “Reyna, his girlfriend.” She reaches out and takes his hand. “Right, solar flare?”

Will gives her another awkward chuckle and she responds with a smile. Nico’s eyes widen and he kinda wants to gag.

“Will and Reyna are going to show you around the campus.” Artemis says. “Your classes will start tomorrow. I’ll see you bright and early.”

She grabs both Reyna’s and Will’s wrist where their hands are joined.

“The doors to wisdom are never closed!” She says, pushing their hands apart and stepping in front of the four Isle kids. “But the library is open from six in the morning to eleven at night and as I’m sure you’ve heard, curfews are important to me.”

The four nod or chuckle and Artemis walks away to tend to something else. The groups of Olympians had mostly dispersed by now, leaving the grounds empty except for the Chaos Crew, Prince William and Princess Reyna. Will steps forward, bringing his hands together again. He grins at the four of them and Nico feels like he needs sunglasses.

“It is so, so good to finally meet you all.” He holds his hand out to Leo who punches his shoulder and lifts his chin at him. Will staggers back in surprise but continues down the line to Piper.

“This is a momentous occasion…” Piper curtseys.

“...One that I hope will go down in history...” Bianca shakes his hand gently. He brings his hand up and licks at the chocolate residue Bianca had left on it. “Chocolate?”

“...As the day our two peoples began to heal.” He finishes speaking and takes Nico’s outstretched hand. Nico lifted his chin and looked him up and down. Will’s blond bangs fell into his eyes, almost like it was hiding part of his face. He hadn’t let go of his hand yet. Were handshakes supposed to be this long? None of his friends had said anything in response. Right, they were taking his lead. Will still hasn’t let go. Damn, were his eyes blue. A shade of blue Nico has never seen before. Weird, the tingling lessened.

Reyna steps up next to him and smiles politely at Nico.

“Or how about the day you showed four peoples where the bathrooms are?” Nico suggests. Will laughs at the ground then looks back up to Nico.

“Too much?” He asks.

“A little bit.” Nico replies.  _ Play nice. _ He smiles and the two lock eyes again.

“Well, so much for my first impression.” Will says, and that catches Nico off guard. Self-deprecation from a prince? Interesting. He laughs at it and Will responds with a laugh himself. Reyna seems to not like losing the spotlight.

“Hey, you’re Maria di Angelo’s son right?” She says, knowing the answer already. “I totally do not blame you for your mother trying to kill mine and stuff.”

Nico’s eyes widen and he nods, wetting his lips. The tingling was back, slightly worse than before. He wishes he could stretch.

“Oh, my mom’s Bellona.” She states and Nico wracks his brain trying to remember a Bellona in his mother’s stories.

“Sleeping-” Reyna starts.

“Beauty!” Nico snaps. The story came to him. According to Maria, Bellona had stumbled into her circle(which Nico doubts to this day) and then stole a swatch of special fabric that Maria was going to use for a pricey dress. Maria cursed her as a lesson so she wouldn’t steal again, except the curse was to put Bellona in an eternal sleep so Nico doesn’t quite know how that would have worked. Nico doesn’t question Maria though so he just rolled with it.

“Yeah, I’ve heard the name.” Nico tells Reyna. “And I totally do not blame your mother for stealing a very expensive piece of cloth that would have gotten her killed if she didn’t use it.”

“Water under the bridge?” Reyna asks with false politeness.

“Sure.” Nico says with the same fake politeness and they both fall into fake chuckling then sighing. Nico knows Reyna was staring him down but he rolls his eyes and focuses back on Will who is smiling between the two of them.

“Okay, well, how about a tour?” Nico shoots Piper a look. “Olympus Prep, originally built over 500 years ago and converted into a boarding school by my father when he became king.”

Will steps back and starts walking towards the large, ornate doors that were held open. Reyna catches up and slides her arm in his. The two stop at the side of the metal statue of King Apollo in the courtyard. Nico and his friends catch up to the two royals. Will claps his hands twice and a sound of creaking echoes in the area.

The statue rearranges itself until instead of King Apollo’s wide grin and puffed out chest is visible, it shows a hunched over figure with antlers, a long snout and hair detailed like fur all over. Even though it’s metal, there’s a glimmer in the creature’s eyes that look rabid. Nico isn’t quite sure what to make of the change but it is wonderful to see magic at work. All his life, he’d been told that one day he would have access to it and to see it after so long, he’s almost itchy thinking about his first try. Before he will be able to though, he has to get through this tour.

Behind him, someone yelps and he thinks it’s Piper at first but when he turns around to check, Leo is in Piper’s arms, clinging to her looking panicked. Nico gives him a confused, disbelief look.

“Leo, it’s okay.” Will turns to look back at them all. “My father wanted his statue to transform from monster to man to remind everyone that anything is possible.”

Reyna gazes at him as he speaks and Nico closes his eyes and counts to ten. He has an idea.

“Does he shed much?” He snarks, meeting Will’s eyes. Will laughs and clasps his hands in front of him.

“Yeah, mom won’t let him on the couch.” Will responds. A tiny smile appears on Nico’s lips. So the prince can play? This should be fun. Will gives a smile and then continues the tour with Reyna clinging to him. Nico turns to Bianca who gives him a knowing smile. Nico shakes his head, scowling. Piper drops Leo who keeps his eyes on the statue. He claps twice but the statue remains in creature form. He notices the group has moved on so he runs to catch up.

Will leads them into the castle’s entryway. The only word Nico can find to describe it is huge. The ceilings are hundreds of feet above him, there are two sets of staircases, one on either side of the room, and there are doors leading to other parts of the castle to his left, right and in front of him. He knows Bianca is taking in all the high class decoration of the room so he leaves her be, instead asking about something for his personal interest.

“So, you guys have a lot of magic and stuff like that here? Or was the statue a one-off thing.”

“Yeah, it exists.” Will says turning around. “But it’s not really used. It’s basically retired. Most of us here are just ordinary people, like you.”

Nico sours at the reminder.

“Who just so happen to be royalty.” He deadpans. Will’s eyes widen a fraction and Nico feels the small sense of satisfaction that he’s made the prince a bit more uncomfortable.

“That’s true!” Reyna says with a smile. “Our royal blood goes back generations.” She pulls Will’s arm around her shoulders with a pretty laugh. Will smiles down at her then sees something of interest.

“Zoë!” He calls. “Zoë, can you come here?” He steps away from Reyna who gives the group another bright smile. Nico ignores it, rolls his shoulders, and turns to where Will had walked off to. The prince was standing with his hand on the shoulder of a girl with dark hair and brown eyes. She was looking at a clipboard and said something quietly to Will who waved it off.

“This is Zoë.” Will says and the girl looks up at the four kids with a welcoming smile. “She’s going to help you with your class schedules and show you your dorms.”

Will leaves Zoë’s side, returning to stand next to Reyna and looks directly at Nico.

“I’ll be around later, okay? Make sure you get settled in.” There’s something in his eyes that causes Nico’s stomach to turn. “And if you need anything, anything at all, you can ask-”

“Zoë!” Reyna interrupts him, startling everyone. Nico gives her a poisonous smile that she returns. She then walks off, taking Will by the hand on the way. The two disappear from sight and Nico turns to Leo.

“Was she threatened by me?” He whispers.

“Well, your mother did kind of put her mother to sleep. I wouldn’t doubt it.” Leo whispers back. Nico shakes his head at the entire situation.

“Hi, guys. I’m one of Artemis’ adopted daughters. As in, Calypso, Hemithea, Josephine, Thalia, and…” She trailed off, trying to remember her last adopted sister. Something about the four caught her attention though and she inhaled sharply. Bianca steps out of line and approaches Zoë.

“Hi, I’m Bianca.” Bianca holds her hand out and Zoë looks at it, hesitantly. Bianca withdraws it and Nico shuffles up to look at Zoë’s clipboard over her shoulder.

“Okay, um, your classes. I’ve already put in the required courses such as History of Piracy, Safety on the Internet, and Remedial Goodness.” She explains. Nico scoffs.

“Let me guess, new one?” He meets Zoë’s eyes and then reaches out to grab the paper on the top of the clipboard. Zoë nods and eyes Nico’s hand. Nico scans the paper looking at the information on it. They have the same classes but some at different times so the paper is set up like a grid. By their names are room numbers. Nico and Leo have B13 by theirs and Piper and Bianca have F13 by theirs. Nico unrolls a piece of hard caramel candy he stashed in his pocket and pops it into his mouth before dropping the wrapper where he stood. The tingling was the worst he’s ever felt. It was time to leave.

“C’mon, let’s go find our rooms.” He starts walking in the direction of one staircase when Zoë calls to him.

“Actually, your rooms are going to be that way.” She points her thumb to the staircase behind her. Nico heaves a sigh and then turns around to the right direction. She starts listing off adopted sisters again under her breath, still unable to remember the last one.

“Kallisto.” Piper tells her as she walks by. Zoë sighs and nods her head.

“Right, Kallisto.” She turns and wanders off.

***

It took way too much work to find an empty hallway in the castle. Each one Nico tried had at least one other person. Eventually, he found one and pulled his friends into it.

“Okay, this isn’t so bad.” Leo says once they’re around the corner.

“It could be worse.” Bianca agrees. Piper nods next to her and Nico just takes a second to breathe.

“Neeks?” Bianca asks. Nico exhales and ignores the tingling in his spine.

“I’m okay.” He says.

“It kinda sucks we’re not roomed together.” Piper says the one thing they were all thinking.

“It’s probably because of something dumb.” Leo points out. “Like, they don’t want us doing anything weird.”

“That works for the goodies, but we wouldn’t ever think about it.” Piper argues.

“Yeah, but they can’t count on that.”

“I mean, you’re like my annoying little brother.” Piper makes a face, still pushing it.

“Enough.” Nico states. The tingling isn’t going away no matter how hard he tries. He stretches his arms up and the tingling reaches his fingertips.

“Okay, a plan.” He inhales. “Find our rooms, unpack or whatever. Then you two come find us. We need to get going on this bow.”

He tilts his head and presses his eyes shut.

“ _ Stai davvero bene?” _ Bianca asks in a whisper.(Are you really okay?)

“ _ Qualcosa mi dà fastidio alla schiena _ .” Nico replies.(Something is bothering my back.)

“Rude.” Piper says. Leo nudges her and shakes his head. There must be something wrong.

“ _ Tipo cosa?” _ Bianca says.(Like what?)

“ _ È quasi come un formicolio _ .”(It is almost like a tingle.)

Bianca frowns at Nico and then presses her hand to his back. The skin on his back feels sensitive, like a ten volt hooked up to him and released. He arches forward, out of Bianca’s reach.

“Stop.” He growls. There’s a cold sensation in his chest then when he opens his eyes again, it’s pitch black around him.

“Nico?!” Piper calls out.

“Pipes!” Leo’s voice comes through.

“Leo? Is that you?” Bianca asks.

The dark is bad. The dark lets people slink around and hurt other people. Why was it dark? It was the middle of the afternoon. The sunlight should still be here. Nico’s breathing picks up and he forces himself to sit down and tuck his head to his knees. He takes shaky, measured breaths until he could think straight again. He opens his eyes and the afternoon sunlight is back.

“Hey, Neeks.” Bianca’s hand is on him. “Look at me. C’mon now.”

He does, almost afraid to.

“That was terrifying.” Leo says, staring at Nico with wide, stunned eyes. Piper’s mouth was parted and she looked like she was at a loss for words.

“What?” Nico curls his fists.

“The dark-” Piper starts but Bianca cuts her off.

“Are you okay? How do you feel?” She looks at Nico with worry. Nico assesses his state. He was still shaking from the adrenaline but the tingling and the cold feeling was gone.

“It’s gone.” He says.

“Okay, let’s get you to your room. You should still rest. Leo, make sure he gets there.” Bianca gives orders. Her tone is ice and Nico realizes she’s scared.

“Bi-”

“Shush.” She demands. “Piper and I will come find you tonight. Sleep until we get there. Leo, if the prince comes around, send him away.”

Nico doesn’t much remember what it was like when Bianca was the leader, but he imagines it was something like this. She was fierce and knew what she wanted. She fought to have it.

“Understood?” Bianca looks between Nico and Leo. Nico glances at Leo who’s still looking at him like he’s something never seen before.

“Understood.” Leo replies. He moves to help Nico stand up.

“Nico?” Bianca gives him a sharp look.

“Yes, okay, fine.” Nico watches the floor the entire walk to his and Leo’s dorm room. When Leo opens the door, the sunlight blinds him and he winces at the twinge of pain in his head.

“Can we close one of the curtains?” Nico asks. Leo is already closing them. He goes to close the last one, then hesitates.

“I’m leaving one open.” He says, expecting a response. When he doesn’t get one, he turns around to find Nico curled up on one of the beds, a strand of hair fluttering as he breathes deeply.

“Guess he needs it after that.” Leo mutters before settling on the couch with the laptop sitting on their coffee table.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on As Light Refracts:  
> The Chaos Crew arrives in Olympus to fanfare and hesitancy from the others. Prince Will introduces himself and seems very kind to them. Reyna, as many others, doesn't like the newcomers. Will and Reyna give them a tour of the school and leave Zoë to get their schedules in place. Something happens to Nico, causing a lot of darkness and panic in the hallway. Nico barely gets back to his room before passing out while Leo gets them settled in.
> 
> Today on As Light Refracts...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! It has been quite a bit since I've seen this one, I'm sorry for that. It's the school thing. But! I hope this 9k word update makes up for it?
> 
> Under tones of abusive parents in the second scene and the last scene. Again, nothing explicit or even mentioned, but the kids had a rough time on the Isle so the theme is there. Otherwise, enjoy!!
> 
> I deeply appreciate JamesBranwen for reading through this and telling me it's fine 💙💙

The sun is set by the time Nico wakes up and there’s a platter at the foot of his bed with covered dishes on it. He sits up and presses a hand to his head as a flash of pain runs through it.

“Morning.” Leo chirps from his spot on the couch. He has papers spread out in front of him on the coffee table with lines and numbers detailed in random places. Nico squints, trying to make out what the prints are of, but the pain returns. He inhales, thinking that as long as he keeps moving, he’ll be fine, but then he remembers he’s not on the Isle and that pushing himself too much could kill him. That ignites a sense of fear in him.

“Status report.” He says, voice rough with sleep.

“Well, you’ve been out since we got to the room. It’s about 8pm now, Prince Will came around. He offered to show us the cafeteria but when he saw you sleeping he just called for food to be brought here. The food is amazing, did you know real bread isn’t supposed to be green? Yeah, apparently that’s called mold and it can kill you.”

Nico swings his legs off the side of the bed and colorful spots gather in his vision.

“And meat, when cooked right, tastes amazing! Oh, Piper and Bianca should be around,” Leo looks at the clock on the wall, “Pretty soon, actually. But you should eat. I don’t know what happened with you earlier, but you probably need energy.”

Leo watches Nico carefully as Nico stands and walks over to the couch. He’s a little wobbly but not anything majorly concerning. After Nico sits down, Leo gets up and brings over the platter. He pushes aside the blueprint and sets the tray down.

“What are these?” Nico asks, nodding to the blueprints. He picks up a bowl of shredded meat and a fork before curling up and taking slow bites.

“Blueprints of the castle.” Leo brings a hand to the back of his neck. “I wasn’t sure how important they would be, but I figured knowing the layout of the place could help at least a little, even if it’s just to find a secluded spot to meet or something. Sorry I didn’t run it by you. You were kinda…”

Nico waves his fork around.

“Don’t worry, it’s a good idea. I like it.” He gives Leo a tired smile and Leo smiles back, feeling relieved that Nico’s feeling a little better.

“Are you okay?” Leo decides to ask. “I mean, how do you feel? Do you know how you did that?”

Nico stays silent as he chews. He’s trying to conjure up his memory of what happened but all he remembers is the hallway, talking to his friends, then darkness, a panic attack and then the darkness fading and being exhausted.

“I don’t know.” He says. “My head hurts, I saw stars when I sat up. But I don’t really know what happened, no.”

Leo frowns and is about to tell him when a knock sounds on their door. Both boys look at the door then each other. Neither moves to answer it. Then, a specific pattern of knocks ring in the room and Leo grins. He jumps up and opens their wooden door to reveal Bianca and Piper, still dressed from the day.

“Nico!” Bianca says, hurrying into the room. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

With all sets of eyes on him, he decides it’s better to be a leader than to be honest.

“I’m okay, now. Just needed a little sleep.” He says. Leo gives him a questioning look but Nico shakes his head. He’ll find out what happened later. It shouldn’t be too important anyways.

“How was your dinner?” Leo asks the girls.

“The cafeteria is huge!” Piper exclaims. “We didn’t see you down there…”

“Yeah, Princey decided he’d show us tomorrow after seeing this one knocked out.” Leo jokes.

“I told you to send him away if he shows up.” Bianca scolds Leo.

“He didn’t come in. Besides, I’m sure it was Nico’s snoring that alerted him.”

“I don’t snore.” Nico grumbles into the rice he’d picked up. Leo opens his mouth to argue that point when Nico cuts him off. “Piper, let’s pull out the mirror and find that bow.”

Leo frowns but sits down in his spot on the couch. The girls sit on the wooden table after pushing the blueprints off.

“Those were important!” Leo squawks.

“Yeah, and you can figure ‘em out again when we’re done.” Piper replies. The hidden compliment on Leo’s intelligence wasn’t missed because Leo smiles at the blueprints laying on the floor.

“Pipes, mirror.” Nico reminds her. She jolts and pulls out the small hand mirror and holds it up in front of her.

“I don’t know how to use it.” She says, holding the mirror out in front of her.

“It probably needs a saying or something. Aphrodite never told you how to use it?” Leo asks. Piper shakes her head. “Here, let me see it a moment.”

Piper hands the mirror over to Leo who flips it over, runs his hands over the ornate gold that lies around the reflective glass. He closes his eyes and stays silent. Bianca glances at Nico who only shrugs and takes another bite of rice.

“Mhm,” Leo says, opening his eyes, "Try some chant, like, ask it but rhyme."

“Pretty mirror in my hand, where does Artemis’ bow stand?” Piper asks, taking the mirror from him.

The mirror’s glass changes from reflecting its surroundings into a milky pink color then fades away revealing a wooden bow with a bright gold string connecting the two string nocks. There was silver laid into the wood along its body. It appears to be slowly spinning in place.

“Does it zoom out?” Bianca asks. Piper glances at Leo who looks at her with confusion.

“Ask it to.” He deadpans.

“Not so close, please, Mirror?” Piper asks awkwardly. The bow fades from view as the entire Earth fills the screen. Piper sighs heavily.

“Closer, please.” The mirror zooms into the continent they lived on. “Even more.” It zooms into Olympus’ boundary line. “A little more.”

“Can I…” Leo nudges Nico then gestures to the small piece of chocolate still on the tray Will brought earlier. Nico nods and looks back at the mirror. It was zoomed in on a sign outside of a building built from stone and mortar. It reads  _ Museum of Olympus Cultural History _ .

“It’s...a museum.” Nico states. “Leo, look it up.”

Leo, who is already a step ahead of them, reads from his computer screen.

“1.7 miles from here.” He says. “The  _ Museum of Olympus Cultural History _ was created with the intent to preserve Olympus’ past, educate about the present, and advocate for the future.”

“Sounds lame.” Piper grumbles. She goes to set the mirror on the table but Leo leans forward, bending over the laptop.

“Thank the mirror, what are you a monster?” Leo steals the mirror from Piper’s hand and runs his thumb over the backing. “Thank you pretty mirror for helping us.”

Nico, Bianca and Piper watch the scene unfold with varying levels of concern and confusion. When Leo looks back at them, his cheeks darken and he ducks his head.

“Machines have feelings too, maybe not the same way, but they do.” He mutters.

Nico takes a deep breath.

“Okay, so to the museum we go.” He puts the, now empty, dishes back on the tray and stands up. He brushes his hands on his pants then pads over to the door, opening it slowly and wincing when it creaks. He holds his breath and peeks out around the doorframe looking one way, then the other. He waves his hand behind him to let them know it’s okay to follow.

***

The museum is a large, white marble building with ancient pillars and stairs that lead up to the entrance. Moonlight plays hide and seek with the Chaos Crew as they turn the corner, hopefully for the last time, in search of the front door. Nico wants to make a clean steal so he turns to Piper to ask her to check one last time.

“Check your mirror?” He whispers.

“Why? Is my makeup off?” She replies, slowing down and pulling out the mirror. Nico inhales through his nose.

“Sure, and while you’re at it, the bow?” He presses. Piper makes a face of realization then whispers to the mirror.

“It’s still there.” She confirms.

“Door’s here.” Leo says taking a sharp turn. He tries the handle but it’s locked. This alerts a guard inside that none of the kids saw. The guard turns in his rolling chair to the door and the four duck down. Nico waits a couple moments then peeks over the edge and through the window. The guard went back to watching cameras.

On each camera was a magic artifact Nico had only ever heard about. Athena’s chestplate, Poseidon’s quill, Marie Levesque’s tarot cards, and Zeus’ bolt. Then there were softer items too. A gold crown that was glowing, shoes with pure white wings on them, a spear whose tip was covered in a silver liquid, and a pillow that looked older than Bianca.

“Look.” Bianca whispers, now peeking through the window too. “Doesn’t that look familiar?”

Nico follows what his sister is pointing at and a small smile crosses his face. His mother’s crochet needles were sticking out of a metal ball of yarn meant to replicate the real thing.

“ _ Those _ are your mother’s needles?” Leo asks. Piper stifles a laugh.

“Yeah, they’re kind of underwhelming.” She says.

“They’re magic.” Bianca defends. “They don’t have to look scary.”

Nico ignores the three as he flips open his mother’s spellbook.

“Aha.” He whispers. “Special needles, cool and fair, make my victim touch without a care.”

There was a tight pull in his lower back but the guard did not move. He frowns and looks back at the book.

“Impressive.” Piper comments.

“Truly intimidating.” Leo snickers. Nico closes his eyes then shoots them a glare after he’s taken a breath. The two settle down. He scans the book again then shakes his head and closes the book.

“Touch the needles without restraint, just the top to have you faint.” He says. This time the pull is stronger and he inhales sharply as something dark and smoky slithers its way through the door and settles in front of the guard just before disappearing. The guard stands up and shuffles toward the needles before resting a finger on the flat end of one of them. He yawns where he stands then slumps on the floor.

The quartet is silent for a moment and Nico looks between Bianca on his right then Leo and Piper on his left. They’re all staring at him with their mouths slack.

“What?” He asks defensively.

“What was with the black stuff?” Piper asks.

“I dunno but it worked.” Nico slides the book between his arm and side, then examines the door.

“Think you can open this?” He asks Leo. Leo tilts his head, as if listening for something, then a slow smile spreads across his face.

“I do believe I can.” He says. He pulls out his lock picking kit and goes to work. Only a few moments go by when the door clicks and swings open.

“Ta-da! A Leo Valdez supreme.” He says standing up. Nico is already walking inside, glancing at the cameras. Bianca and Piper follow, their heads swivelling around to take in the building and the artifacts around them.

“ _ Oh, thank you, Leo! _ ” Leo says in a higher voice, “ _ We couldn’t have done it without you, Bad Boy Supreme!” _

“Mhm.” Nico hums from the control panel. “C’mon, this way.” He leaves the desk and heads out of the room towards the right staircase. The girls follow and Leo takes a step forward, but the guard shifts in his sleep and Leo freezes.

“Leo!” Piper calls. Leo scurries out of the room after the other three. Nico leads them up three flights of stairs, all spiralling around until the four don’t remember which way is North. He takes off down a hallway and stops in the doorway of a circular room. Bianca, Piper and Leo catch up to him.

“What’s up?” Leo asks, bent over his knees trying to catch his breath. After nobody responds, he stands up straight and looks into the room to see his father glaring at him with multiple little metal objects floating around his head or at his feet. He starts and his mouth falls open in shock before he realizes that the image of his father is just a statue. He looks at the other statues in the room. Aphrodite and Maria have their own stands with their own imagery.

“Mom?” Piper asks, tilting her head and taking in Aphrodite’s statue. It’s shimmering as if holographic and sure enough, when Leo steps forward, her image changes. She’s holding out an apple that has pink goo leaking out of it. This moment no doubt alluding to when she tricked Hermes to fall in love with her.

“I’m never forgetting father’s day again.” Leo mutters. He knows the look in his father’s eye and he never wants to be on the receiving end of it again in his life.

“Well, the wand isn’t here. C’mon.” Piper states withdrawing from her mother’s pedestal hesitantly.

“Yeah, c’mon.” Bianca squeezes Nico’s shoulder. The boy was still staring up at his mother who grinned at the world with her needles in hand. Piper left the room and Bianca followed. Leo was close behind.

Nico stood in the center of the room a moment longer, still trying to reconcile the angry, intimidating statue with his mother. One second it wasn’t hard, but the next it seemed to be too harsh a light to cast her in.

“I know what we need to do, mother, but I don’t know if we should.” He whispers.

“Neeks,” Bianca’s voice rings from the hall, “C’mon!”

Nico moves to turn towards the doorway when something pulls in his stomach and he falls to the floor. The next moment, his mother is standing over him.

“Oh, Nicodemus, come.” Nico sits up with the help of his mother. He was stunned into silence at her sitting next to him on the steps of her pedestal.

“What are you…”

“Don’t worry about that. Let’s talk.” She sets a hand on his head and he avoids flinching. “It took me years, you know. To build up the strength to unleash so much power. You’re strong, Nicodemus. So strong and you are learning that day after day.”

Nico watches her as she talks. Something reminds him of when he was younger and she was nicer.

“Don’t you wanna be free?” She asks him. He finds himself nodding because yes, freedom is all he’s ever wanted. But now that he was here, in Olympus, he wasn’t sure what he wanted freedom from.

“So, that bow is the only thing that’s going to keep you free.” She sets her hand on his shoulder and presses a kiss to the side of his head. “After all, Olympus isn’t the place for evil brats, is it?”

Nico shakes his head.

“Good, now, when I stand up, you will fall again and that’s fine, it’s normal. But you know that already, don’t you?” She rises and Nico slumps against the stairs.

“Nico.” Bianca’s voice rings out. Something shakes his shoulder. “Nico, I need you to get rid of the smoke and I can get to you.”

The smoke? Nico sits up and sees his sister’s face clearly.

“Oh gods, are you okay?” She puts a hand on his shoulder. “I came back and you were on the floor.”

“I’m fine. What smoke?” He asks. She gives him a flat look.

“The black smoke that’s started coming out of you at random times.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think I would know if I started smoking.”

“Apparently not.”

“Was...This is going to sound weird, but was mother here when you came in?” Nico asks.

“No? She’s on the Isle, dork.”

Nico frowns at the answer and then at the name.

“C’mon, I found the bow.” Bianca helps stand him up and they leave the statue room together. Nico glances back at his mother on the way out.

Bianca corrals Piper and Leo and leads them to a balcony where a white light shines down on the magic bow.

“There it is.” Bianca says. Piper whoops and starts thumping down the stairs to the level where the bow is held. The others follow giggling with excitement. They stop at the railing circling the bow’s stand. Nico allows a small smile to grace his face. He was so close to being done.

Piper moves to duck under the rails and Nico reaches a hand out.

“Pipes, don’t.” Leo cautions. Piper only gives him a smirk and continues her plan. She stands upright and reaches out for the bow only to be blasted back by an unseen force.

“Piper!” Nico shouts as she goes over the rail backwards. Sirens sound all around them and they cover their ears all looking between each other.

“Damn it,” Nico curses, “Out. Now.”

“A forcefield  _ and _ a siren!” Leo shouts.

“That’s a little much!” Piper responds. The four take off for the stairs they came from then sees the dark form of the security guard. Nico turns on his heel and races the other way. The four navigate through the museum without running into the guard and burst through the back door. The phone rings as Leo runs through and he got a half formed idea in his head.

“Hello?” He picks up the phone and somebody starts talking but he can’t hear over the siren.

“One second, just give me one second.” He looks to the system and presses a couple buttons. “Okay, sorry about that. Yeah, it was a false alarm.”

“You sure?” The person asks.

“Yeah, it was a malfunction in the VW632 chip in the breadboard circuit.” He rattles off.

“Oh, okay then.”

“Yeah, okay, say hi the missus for me.” Leo says.

“Leo!” Bianca shouts. Leo hangs the phone up and turns to the doorway where she waits for him.

“You’re welcome, again.” He says. She shakes her head and takes off running. He follows with a smile on his face. The two catch up with Nico and Piper.

“Thanks, Piper!” Bianca shouts as they run back to the school campus. “Now we have to go to school tomorrow!”

***

The next morning, Nico sits in a wooden chair next to Bianca as Artemis stood at a rolling chalkboard many rows in front of them. He half pays attention as she points to the questions on the board with a yardstick.

“If someone hands you a stolen crown, do you… A, put it in your bag and walk away. B, sell it for money on the black market. C, curse it and deliver it to the king. Or D, turn it into the authorities?” She turns to the four and Bianca raises her hand next to Nico.

“Yes.” She points her stick at Bianca.

“What was option B?”

Nico rolls his eyes at Bianca’s antics. She knew very well what it was but she wanted to waste time. Fine by him. He continues shading on the sketch of the bow he did in the beginning of the day.

“Anybody else want to try?” Artemis puts the stick behind her back. “Nico?”

“D, turn it into the authorities.” He says, looking up from the sketch.

“Correct. Good job.” Artemis turns to the board and circles the letter D.

“Damn, dude, you’re killing it.” Leo says from across the aisle. He’s leaned back in his chair with his arms folded over his chest. Nico shrugs at him.

“Just pick the answer that’s not fun.” He goes back to his art.

“Oooh.” All three around him say. Somebody enters the classroom from the door behind them all. Bianca turns to look but Nico keeps his focus ahead until the person walks by his table. He glances up to see a girl with light brown hair scurry by. Her light brown eyes are glancing around and she lifts her chin as she approaches Artemis.

“Hello, darling.” Artemis says as she approaches.

“You need to sign my permission for early dismissal for the coronation.” The girl offers up her book and pen to Artemis. She glances back at Nico and Bianca and Nico recognizes the small look of fear in her eyes. Nico nudges Bianca who is staring out the window. She jolts back and glances at the newcomer then at Nico. Her eyebrows draw in as she tries to figure out what Nico is planning,

“Everyone here, this is my daughter, Calypso.” Artemis says as she scrawls her signature on the book.

“Mom.” Calypso whines. Artemis hands back her book and pen.

“It’s okay,” She reassures her, “Calypso, this is everyone.” She pushes Calypso forward a little bit.  She curls her fingers around her book and swallows hard.

“That’s okay,” She inhales, “don’t mind me, as you were.” She does a mini bow before scurrying out of the room, passing between Nico and Leo. She squeals as she does and Nico decides to continue planning in his head.

“Let’s continue, shall we?” Artemis asks, directing attention back to the chalkboard. Nico, however, zones out of the rest of the class in favor of considering what Calypso would want most. Could it be wanting to be attractive? She was fairly pretty, speaking from an objective standpoint.

“You find a baby on the road. Do you...A, leave it where it is?”

Could it be smarts? Nico’s head tilts as he considers. She didn’t look dumb, but looks could be decieving. He glances at Bianca next to him as she writes the correct answer in her notes.

“Or C, take it in and feed it?” Artemis finishes posing the question. Nico watches his friends all put a hand in the air. Piper pushes Leo’s arm, trying to hold it down. Leo just switches arms and Piper continues trying to pin the other one. She grabs his wrist and pulls it down, using her arm to keep them both down. That’s when it struck Nico.

Calypso would probably want more slack. She was the youngest of her sisters, Artemis probably worried over her a good amount, judging by the anxiety from being around the Chaos kids.

“Piper?” Artemis calls on her.

“C, take it in and feed it.” Piper says, sure of her answer. Leo pulls out of her grasp.

“I was gonna say that.” He grumbles. Artemis taps her hands together in a small clap.

“Aw, but I said it first.” Piper pats Leo’s shoulder and Nico knows this isn’t going to end well. He rolls his eyes as Piper wraps an arm around Leo’s head and presses her closed fist into his hair.

“C’mon, who said it first?” Piper asks as Leo struggles to pull away. Artemis raps her yardstick against the lectern next to her.

“Kids, kids!” She shouts. Piper and Leo freeze. “I am going to encourage you to use that energy for football.”

“Oh, no.” Leo says as Piper lets go of him. “Whatever that is, we’ll pass.”

He slaps her arm and Piper goes to slap him back but she stops and lets it go instead. The two move their chairs away from each other and Artemis continues the lesson. Nico frowns at his sketch and then pulls out a different paper.

_ I think I could get Calypso to get us the bow. _ He writes then slides it over for Bianca to read. She reads it then writes something beneath it.

_ Perhaps, but if it’s in the museum, do you think she could get it? _

_ No, but she could ask her mother to. _

_ How are you going to convince her? _

_ I’m still trying to figure that out. _ He chews on the eraser to his pencil for a moment, trying to articulate his thoughts then goes back to writing.  _ I think she wants slack, or at least, more personal freedom and confidence. If I could talk her into thinking the bow could give it to her, then she could ask Artemis to use it on her. I mean, she did for Phoebe, you know? _

Bianca reads it then furrows her brow in thought. Her eyes scan through unseen lines of thought and Nico waits for an answer.

_ Perhaps. I still think just stealing it would be the best way. _

_ We already tried that. And tripped an alarm, so it’ll be more protected. _

_ True. Well, do you want me to try and catch her in the bathrooms? _

_ Maybe. Let me see what the rest of the day looks like. _

The class ends and the rest of the day continues. After their last shared class, (History of Piracy, Nico’s favorite), they left the classroom only to be stopped by Will in the hallway.

“Hey, guys!” He grins at the four. Nico stifles the urge to cover his eyes. “How's your first day going?”

Around them people hurry by, trying to get to their next class or just to the library. The sun is still high in the Eastern sky and coming through the tall windows of the hallway.

“It's…different.” Bianca replies.

“Not terrible, I hope?” Will prompts.

“Not too terrible.” Nico says.

“Hey, so I know it's the first day and all, but it’d be cool if you came to football tryouts?” Will pulls his hands from his slacks. “I think you two could be great at it.” He gestures to Nico and Leo who share a look.

“Because we’re from the Isle?” Leo asks. Will’s eyes widen and he splutters.

“No, not at all. I just, uh, I meant more like because you’re the right build. Like, you look light on your feet and…” He trails off, cheeks growing red.

“What if I wanna try out?” Piper asks from the back of the group. Will’s taken aback for only a moment but then shrugs.

“We’ve never had a girl on the team, but that doesn’t mean we never could.” He says. “It was a thought. If you want to, they’re today, after school on the field.”

And with that, he leaves the four in the hall as he heads to his own class. Nico watches him go with his head tilted.  _ Interesting _ .

“I’m trying out. It could be fun to wipe the floor with the boys.” Piper announces. “You should too, Leo, it could be fuuun.”

Leo makes a face and Piper laughs at it.

“No thanks. Sports and contact, that’s your thing, not mine.” He shakes his head.

“...If I asked nicely, would you come with me?” Piper questions. Her voice lowers in volume and Nico turns to see her watching her fingers as she plays with them at her chest. She was nervous. Nico turns back around to give her and Leo privacy. Bianca and him form a sort of wall around the two as they talk in hushed tones.

“Hey, if you want me to go with you, I will.” Leo says. “You don’t even have to ask nicely.”

“Okay, thank you. That was really dumb of me.” Piper says. It's silent and Nico assumes they hugged.

“I’ll see you on the field after the last class.” Leo says.

“Okay.”

Someone taps the center of Nico’s back and he steps out of the way. Leo shoots him a thankful look and he nods silently. There was the tingling sensation radiating from where his back was tapped but he ignores it in favor of walking away.

“Nico and I will be in the stands.” Bianca calls as she separates from them. Nico continues to his next class.

***

Nico finds himself at his locker after the next class. Bianca had come by to ask about chemistry and Calypso. She finishes up and tells him goodbye. Down the way, Reyna exits a classroom followed by a very thin, almost gaunt looking, blond guy. Their laughter rings out and Nico focuses on the textbook in front of him. Even if they’re destroying the world, he’s gotta keep up appearances until then.

“They’re trouble, you know.” A voice says. Nico glances over at the guy and Reyna without moving his head. Will had shown up at some point and was now engaging with them.

“Come on, Octavian. You haven’t given them a chance.” Will replies. “Let ‘em try.”

Reyna snorts and then pulls Will’s hands into hers.

“No offense, solar flare, but you’re just too naive. I know your mom fell in love with a weird, gross creature that turned out to be a prince, but for some, the evil spinster was just an evil spinster...that boy’s mother.” She whispers the last line but voices travel down hill and Nico fights the sarcastic smile threatening to appear on his face.

“I think you’re wrong about them.” Will replies. Nico blinks at that and frowns. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

Nico hurries to close his textbook and put it back into his locker. He closes it to find Will leaning against the lockers next to his.

“Hey.” He says. His blue eyes are glittering and a small smile rests on his face.

“Hey.” Nico replies.

“How was the rest of your day?”

“ _ Super _ .” Nico says sarcastically. Will looks at the graffiti art on Nico’s locker. It was a purple and black flame with his mother’s scepter in the center.

“Have you considered taking this off the locker and into an art class?” He asks, meeting Nico’s eyes. Nico’s heart trips and he frowns at the act. “I could sign you up.”

Behind Will, Calypso walks out into the afternoon shade and starts walking their direction. Nico notices and realizes this would be the perfect time to talk to her. She notices him and picks up her pace, eyes widening.

“What do you think?” Will asks, directing his attention back to their conversation.

“Way to take the fun out of it.” He snarks, expecting Will to leave after that. Instead the blond just stands there, looking at Nico like he was a puzzle that he wanted to learn. Nico scrunches his nose and then turns around to follow Calypso. He hears a quiet “Huh” from Will as he leaves.

He ends up catching up to her in a fairly empty hall.

“Hey, wait up,” He calls, “Calypso, right?” He catches up to her and sets a hand on her forearm. She freezes under his touch and he withdraws his hand quickly. She watches him warily and he decides to turn on his charm.

“I’ve always liked that name, it sounds strong.” He compliments.

“That’s cool.” She says, eyes wide. Then she moves to leave.

“Wait!” He nearly shouts. She freezes again and gives him a look of fear.

“I’m sorry, I guess, I was just hoping to make a friend.” He lies. He turns on his puppy dog eyes. “Although, I’m assuming you have all the friends you need, huh?”

She turns to face him and shakes her light brown hair behind her shoulder.

“Hardly.” She says, her voice shaking.  _ Bingo _ .

“Really?” Nico asks. Her eyes start to shine. “I mean, with your mom being Artemis,  _ and _ headmistress? And of course your sisters. I’d have thought you’d have many...friends.”

He has her full attention now.

“Not to mention your own...personality.” He says, gesturing to her hair.

“I’d rather be unique. I mean, like you said, my mother’s everywhere and then my sisters...” She says in return. “You’re noticeable.”

Nico nearly scoffs at that.  _ Great.  _ He thinks. Noticeable is the last thing he wants. He pauses for a second and then has an idea.

“Why am I noticeable?” He asks.

“Well, for starters, your hair is really nice. It’s shiny, unlike mine.” She gestures to her long, chestnut colored locks. He avoids widening his eyes in shock. Why do all teenage girls think looks are what makes people noticeable?

“So the color is special?” He asks. She nods. “Ya know, I have just the thing for you.” He pulls out his mother’s book and starts scanning for a spell. Any glamor spell would do, really, but he wanted an idea. He flips the page to a color changing spell.  _ Aha! _

“Here we go.” He mouths the words then brings up his finger. “Don't relayer, but take care, recolor Calypso’s hair.”

The girl’s head moved in time with Nico’s finger as he made a cross in the air. There is the pull in his stomach that he was starting to associate with magic and then her hair starts changing color, beginning at her roots. He decided to go with a lavender color that could still be nicely pinned up and not seem too dramatic.

Calypso’s eyes widen and she darts over to the nearest window to try and see her reflection. She gasps and covers her mouth. Her eyes are wide but happy. She pulls her hands from her mouth and runs her fingers through her hair. She looks back at him with a grin.

“Hey, there you are.” He says with a fake smile. She turns and shrugs.

“Does it fit me, though?” She asks.

“Is it supposed to? It’s a statement.” He says.

“Could you do my eyes?” She asks, stepping closer to him. Her eyes were already a stunning light brown, the kind that caught the light and sparkled. He bit his tongue from saying something rude.

“Oh, I can’t.” He gives her a frown. “I’m still new at magic, so I can’t do anything big. Not like your mother, with her bow.”

Her features fall and she looks down.

“I mean, come on, one tiny prick from one of her arrows and you could probably change your features all the time!” He jokes, hoping she’d pick up on his point. Her shoulders slump.

“Yeah, but she never pulls it out anymore. She believes that learning is magic enough.” She explains. Nico scoffs.

“How dumb.”

“Yeah…”

“You know, she came through for Phoebe, who wasn’t even her daughter.” Nico continues. Calypso’s eyes shone again. “Doesn’t she love  _ you _ ?”

“Well, of course she does,” Calypso says, coming to defend her mom, “She adopted me after all. And you don’t adopt lightly. She just pushes us to make our own path, you know? Doesn’t want to play favorites.”

Her face falls into a saddened, kicked puppy look and Nico starts.

“That’s the face!” He says. She jumps and looks at him in confusion. “Yeah! And then, just look at her, as if you’re suffocating.”

Calypso still doesn’t understand and Nico inhales and then shows her.

“‘Oh, Mother, I just don’t understand why you can’t support me, like you did with Phoebe.’” He stares off at nothing, thinking about how Piper would get Aphrodite to let her use her mother’s highlight palette.

“Do you think it would work?” Calypso asks hesitantly. Nico turns back to her and smiles.

“Of course!” He says. “I mean, that’s what Phoebe did, right? And your mom shot the living hell outta her.”

Calypso chuckles at that which means Nico was getting somewhere.

“And hey, if your mom does bust the ol’ bow out, invite me? I’d like to see what a focus would look like with magic.” He asks.

“Look, if I can convince her to, you’ll be the first person to know.” She says. Nico smiles at her.

“Awesome!” He nods at her. “Well, I gotta get to class, but uh, enjoy the new color! And the attention.”

He leaves her standing in the hallway, still running her fingers through her purple hair.

***

Chemistry was, in Bianca’s opinion, one of the most interesting courses she’s ever known. Even back on the Isle, when she wasn’t following Nico around, she spent time in Lady Hecate’s shop playing with different chemicals to dye things with. She has her notebook in front of her, the pen she borrowed from Nico after hers exploded in her last class, and her mirror tucked into her bag. When she walked in, there was an open seat next to Zoë and Bianca decided it would be nice to know at least someone.

Next to her, Zoë was scratching notes in her notebook. Bianca glances back up at the blond boy that had taken the seat opposite them and wets her lips.

“Any chance he’s in line for a throne? Anywhere?” She asks Zoë. The girl inhales and gives her a look of disgust, then whispers.

“Octavian Papadopoulos, Kassandra’s son.”

Bianca looks to Zoë then back to Octavian. Queen Kassandra?

“He’ll inherit the throne, but he’s not quite all...there…” She trails off. He’s watching something out the window with interest.

“Looks like all there to me.” Bianca says. She puts her hand under her chin and watches him with interest. Zoë sighs next to her and shakes her head. Bianca vaguely sees the teacher come up to their table.

“Bianca, perhaps this is all just review to you, so tell me, what is the average atomic weight of carbon?” She asks sharply. Bianca draws back from her shock and splutters.

“Uh,” She panics.  _ Play dumb, cute guy. _ “It can’t be much, it’s an atom.”

Octavian smiles at her and looks her up and down.  _ Perfect _ . She gives a little chuckle. Mrs. Dodds doesn’t look impressed. She waves her fingers for Bianca to come up to the board. She exhales and glances at an unimpressed Zoë before standing up. She slides her mirror into her pocket and walks up to the board, accepting the piece of chalk from Mrs. Dodds. She turns to the board and decides to ask aloud.

“How do I find the average atomic weight of carbon?” The mirror brings up an equation which she copies onto the board. (0.9889 x 12.0000) + (0.0111 x 13.0034). “Which would give us, Mrs. Dodds, 12.011 amu.”

Behind her, she hears Zoë mutter something under her breath. Bianca stands straight and looks to Mrs. Dodds.

“Correct.” She says. “I forget, it’s always a mistake to underestimate…”

“A villain’s kid?” Bianca tosses the chalk in the air and Mrs. Dodds catches it. “Don’t make it again.”

She turns and walks back to her seat. Octavian catches her eye and then holds out a folded paper to her. She accepts it with a smile and settles in her seat. Zoë watches out the corner of her eye as Bianca unfolds the paper to read the note.

_ Meet me at the football field at 3. _ Surely Leo and Piper would understand if she were late to their tryouts. She nods at Octavian who has his chin in his hand.

***

At the end of the day, Bianca sneaks out a side door and finds herself standing a little bit from the bleachers. She looks around, taking in the grounds of the school when Octavian starts her direction. She perks up and smooths her skirt out before he stops in front of her.

“This way.” He says, offering his hand to her. She accepts it and he leads her around the back of the bleachers then under them, away from the sunlight. He stops, drops her hand then rests against one of the metal poles that support the wooden benches above them.

“Is everyone at home as pretty as you?” He asks. Bianca’s smile grows and she swallows before replying.

“Not usually. I just happen to be friends with the right people.” He gives her a smile and wets his lips.

“How big is your castle?” She asks. He laughs.

“It feels too big sometimes.” They fall silent and Bianca steps forward, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.

“You really nailed that question in chemistry today.” He says, stopping her in her tracks. She backs up. “You’re gonna have all the nerds falling for you.”

_ Abort! Abort! Fix it! _

“I’m not that smart.” She says. He scoffs in disbelief. “No, really! But I am good at following directions and sewing.”

_ Please, please, please. _

“And, you know, I’m really resourceful, like your mom.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out her mirror. “See this? It’s a magic mirror. Ask it a question and it’ll tell you anything.”

Octavian grabbed it from her and spoke into the bottom of it.

“Where is my prophecy book?” He asks. Bianca chuckles and takes it back from him.

“It only works for me, silly.” She says. He shrugs and mutters “Oh”.

She glances at the ground and chews on her lip a moment.

“Hey, would you happen to know anything about Artemis’ bow? I mean, I know Apollo helped your mom out so I was wondering…”

“Oh, no, it was a different bow.” Octavian says, taking her hands again. They’re close now, in kissing distance.

“I heard it was in some museum, is it always there?” She asks. He leans in and she holds her breath, then he pulls away.

“I’d love to talk, but I’m just swamped with homework.” He says. “Unless…”

_ I have an idea where this is going… _

“Unless?”

“If you knocked out my homework when you do yours, then I’d free up a bit. We could hang out sometime. Go see that bow or whatever.” He offers.  _ And there it is. Damnit, Bianca, couldn’t you have just been dumb in class? _

“Oh, sure. If I’m doing it anyways, right?” She says, still mentally kicking herself. He offers her his bag and she accepts it, keeping up her dumb girl charade.

“Thanks, cutie.” He winks at her before walking away. She drops the bag and puts her head in her hands.

“Dumb. You’re such an idiot.” She sighs to herself.  _ And he didn’t even talk about the bow. _

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” A familiar voice says to her left. She jumps and sees Zoë sit down next to her, legs slipping through the slot of the bleachers.

“Are you stalking me?” Bianca cuts her off. She doesn’t respond but she looks affronted.

“You’re interested in Artemis’ bow, so am I. I happen to have access to the woman in question. Maybe sometime we could get together, study, make a list of questions about the bow and I could ask her. After, coronation of course. She’ll need to focus on using it then.” Zoë babbles.

“Wait, she uses it for coronation?” Bianca asks. Zoë gives her a look then it drops, as if remembering who Bianca was.

“Yeah. Will’s supposed to shoot into something to show his purity of heart or whatever.”

“Interesting.” Bianca says.

“So, what d’ya say? About hanging out, I mean.” Zoë asks. Bianca doesn’t reply but instead huffs a small laugh and then walks away to meet up with her brother on the other side of the field.

***

Tryouts were still starting when Nico showed up. Everybody was on the field, stretching and warming up. He found Leo immediately but Piper wasn’t on the field. He frowns and looks around for her, finding her on the sidelines in a heated discussion with Will and another guy. He heads over that direction.

“...no place to say who can try out, Octavian. You’re late and shouldn’t be considered, but because you’re a friend I’m making an exception. It’s only fair if she tries as well.” Nico hears from Will as he closes in. He stops next to Piper and listens for a couple minutes to learn the situation.

“Even if he wasn’t late, I was trying out anyways. Despite what misogynistic bullshit you all tried pulling.” Piper spits. Nico sets a hand on her back to remind her about language. She inhales and glares at the other boy, Octavian.

“That’s so dumb!” The boy shouts. “You’re a  _ girl _ .”

“So what? I’ll kick your a-” Nico elbows Piper “-pple across the field any day!”

“Uh, Will?” A boy asks from behind the prince. “Coach wants you.”

“One second, Frank.” Will says before turning back to the two. “She’s trying out. End of discussion.”

He turns and walks off to the coach and Octavian sneers at Piper before heading off to the field.

“Was that what I think it was?” Nico asks her. She’s glaring daggers into Octavian’s back and nods.

“I’m gonna end his whole career today.” She promises.

“Hey, that’s all fine, but don’t get sent back please. Not yet.” Nico comments. She takes a shuddering breath and exhales it.

“Is Leo okay?” He asks.

“Yeah, he tried to step in but Will did before he could hit Mr. Misogyny over there.”

“Good. Hey, you’re gonna be great.” Nico says honestly. “Go kick his apple.”

She gives him a look with a smirk on her face.

“With pleasure.” She takes off to the field and Nico climbs back up to a spot on the bleachers. He pulls out his piracy book to look busy but keeps an eye on the field. Will has everyone in a circle around him as he talks to them about how tryouts were going to work.

“We’ll start with you in one position, then switch you around as we think will work. For those of you new to the sport, we have an extra challenge on the field.” He gestures to a piece of field that has black outline and yellow lines in it. “That’s called the kill zone. There will be things shot through that zone. Don’t get hit, they hurt.”

Piper and Leo share a look then both look at Nico. He avoids bursting out into laughter at their nervous faces.

“Coach has our first placements.” Will gives the spotlight up to the coach.

“Alright, Piper, Will and Frank, you’ll be forwards. Octavian and Leo on defense. Taylor, you’re the goalie. I want Dakota to be the shooter for your team.” The coach gives out placements and then releases them to pick up a helmet and get in their spots. He tosses the ball to Will who sets it in the center of the field and jogs to his spot in the center. Leo stands on the opposite side of the field from Nico and looks at the helmet in his hands.

“Hey!” The coach calls out to him. “Put it on! Let’s go!”

Leo glances around and puts it on before shaking his head. Nico bites his lip. This was going to be entertaining. He does a sweep of the stadium and sees Bianca on her way to him. Coach blows the whistle and the scrimmage starts. Will reaches the ball first and pulls it back behind him before ducking around the other team. The game starts in the kill zone so he ducks under disks that are being fired at him. Piper’s already gotten behind the enemy team and signals for the pass. Will catches sight of her and kicks the ball her direction. She catches it easily and starts dribbling the ball through the kill zone towards the other team’s goal. Will and Frank follow behind her, dodging disks and other players. She jumps over a low flying disk and shoulder checks a member of the other team.

Nico watches with glee as she gets to the end of the field and psyches out one of the defenders, turning around him. Bianca sits down next to Nico on the bench, eyes glued to the field. Piper makes like she’s going to kick the ball to the goal but instead she sends it over to Will. She successfully distracted the goalie, who was on the opposite side of his box that he needed to be on. Will redirects the ball into the goal and scores. The cheerleaders on the field start a chant and Piper does a little dance as the field resets.

The rest of the tryout is like that. Piper completely dominates the field, no matter the position she’s put in. She has to be reminded a couple times that defenders don’t go over the centerline, but that’s fine. By the end of tryouts, she’s got an arm around Leo and is grinning up at Nico. If he wasn’t sure before, Nico was positive she earned a spot on that team.

“Alright, so…” Coach starts talking and Nico tunes it out.

“She really went and did that.” Bianca says. Nico glances at her, finally taking an opportunity to examine her. She seems off.

“Yeah, she did.” He agrees. He notices a tan backpack on the floor next to her own black one. “Who’s bag is that?”

Bianca glances at it then the ground.

“Nobody’s.” She replies. Nico frowns and closes his textbook.

“Bii.” He says. She sighs.

“Don’t worry about it, okay?” She snarks. He glares softly at her then eases up. If she wasn’t ready to talk about it then she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

“Piper, congratulations, you’ll be one of our starting forwards. I wanna talk to you about teamwork though. Leo, have you considered band?” Nico’s attention goes back to his other friends.  _ Ouch, that’s gonna sting. _ Piper laughs and looks at Leo.

“I’ll work with him, Coach.” Will states, setting a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “He’s got potential.”

“Oh, you don’t have-” Leo starts.

“I want to. It’ll be fun.” Will insists.

“Hm, alright.” The coach agrees. “Let’s run a few plays in your roles, now.”

As they disperse, Piper turns into Octavian who gives her a venomous glare. She just smirks at him and shoulder checks him on the way to her spot. Nico sees the satisfying wince he lets out as she leaves and rubs his shoulder.

***

Time seems to go by slower now that the most nerve wracking part of the day has gone by. Nico finds himself checking the shadows more and more, hoping that it was time to go back to their rooms. Finally,  _ finally _ , Coach dismissed the team and Piper left the field, bounding up the stairs to Nico and Bianca.

“Hey, Leo, I know we just spent a lot of time practicing, but what d’ya say to a couple drills? Just you and me?” Will offers. Leo glances up at his friends who were watching him.

“Uh, sure. Give me a second to let them know though.” Leo provides.

“Yeah, of course. Grab water too.”

Leo leaves Will and meets his friends.

“Hey, big shot. Was it that bad?” Nico teases him. Leo rolls his eyes but can’t fight the smile on his face.

“Wasn’t too terrible, I guess.” He says. “Hey, um, I’m gonna hang back and run a few drills with Will. I’ll see you later?”

Nico studies him a moment before shrugging.

“Okay, lemme know if you need anything.” He says. Leo nods. He gives Bianca a short hug and then pats Piper’s shoulder.

“Hey, congrats on it. Told you that you’d be fine.” He says. She grins at him.

“Thank you for coming with.”

He watches the three leave the stadium and turns back to the field. Most of the team had left by now and the cheerleaders were starting to take off too. Leo jogs up to Will’s side.

“So, what do you have planned?” He asks.

“Well, I’m thinking for starters, we do some cones.” Will gestures to a line of cones set up. He tosses Leo a ball and grabs one of his own.

“This one’s about control. We’re just gonna dribble it through the cones.” Will explains as he shows Leo what to do. Leo follows his lead through the different drills and Will adjusts his stance or his speed here and there. They’re practicing catching passes when a dog runs onto the field.

Leo kicks the ball towards Will, then the dog appears in his field of view. The ball is heading straight for it. Leo’s eyes widen and he sprints forward, diving to push the ball off course so it doesn’t hit the small, tan dog. He manages to tap it upwards with his fingertips and it narrowly misses the dog’s back. He sighs in relief and faces the grass before pushing himself up. Will stands in front of him, holding the dog.

“That was close, little guy. What are you doing out here?” Will asks the dog. He holds a hand out to Leo, who accepts it willingly. Leo eyes the dog warily and then takes a step back.

“Do you wanna pet him?” Will holds the dog out and Leo’s eyes widen. He shakes his head.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you afraid of dogs?” Will asks, pulling the dog closer to him. Leo shrugs, trying to find the right words.

“I’ve um, never actually met one.” He says. “We don’t have pets on the Isle.”

Understanding flooded Will’s features and he steps a little closer to Leo.

“Would you like to meet your first pet?” He asks. Leo meets his blue eyes and the sun peeks out from behind clouds above them. He nods cautiously. Will takes his hand and sets it on the dog’s head. He then drags Leo’s hand down the dog’s back. He does this a few times until Leo’s doing it himself.

“He’s soft.” Leo murmurs. When he looks back up, Will’s grinning at him.

“Can I ask you something? It may be...insensitive.” Will says. Leo pulls his hand back and nods. “Your father makes creatures out of metal. Why hasn’t he taught you how to make one?”

Leo chews on his lip and kicks the grass beneath his feet.

“It’s a long story.” He says, half hoping Will would let it go. Instead, Will crosses his legs and sits in the grass, letting the dog settle on his lap.

“I’ve got time.” He looks up at Leo. Leo looks around and decides if Will was being so kind, he could toss him a bone. He sits down next to Will and starts petting the dog again.

“Okay, so do you know why my father’s on the Isle?” He asks. Will tilts his head back and forth.

“Kind of but not really.” He admits. Leo inhales.

“Okay, I’ll start there.” He says. “So, in the village of Andros, my father lived just outside the boundary. There he could make all the creatures he wanted. He made automatons to help cultivate the land, he made metal animals to keep him company, he basically made his own life there. Well, he caught the eye of a maiden in the village and Ares, you know him, he wanted the maiden for himself. So he set a rumor through the town that dad was making evil machines. That he was making his own army to overtake the town and enslave the people.”

Will watches him with his full attention and Leo gets nervous now, arriving at the part that matters.

“The villagers decided to take him out before he could hurt them. When word reached him that they were coming, he created automatons to protect himself. They were to hurt anything that came inside his boundary. When the village sent the maiden first, she never came back. And this sent the village into a frenzy. They marched to his hut and set it on fire, trying to kill him inside it. The automatons nearby attacked the villagers and well, he lost, they won.”

Leo swallows and takes a breath.

“Since then, ever creature he’s made has been evil.” He shudders, thinking about the metal things on the Isle. “Whether he means them to or not, they all end up evil.”

Silence falls between the two. Will thinks a moment before speaking.

“So, you’re afraid to make something because you’re afraid it’ll be evil?” He ventures. Leo nods silently. “Just because your dad does something, or is  _ someway, _ doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be that way.”

Leo nods again.

“Basically, if you want to make it, I say go for it. Evil or not, you’ve made something. You gave something a new purpose.” Will explains. Leo shifts awkwardly.

“Could we...could we get back to practice?” He asks, not meeting Will’s eyes. Will inhales.

“Yeah, of course. That was a good break.” He says standing up. He sets the dog down and it runs off the direction it originally came.

The two only run a couple more drills before Will decides to call it quits. They’re walking back towards the castle when something shiny catches Leo’s eyes. It’s a pile of bronze metal laying on the ground next to a dumpster. He tilts his head, imagining a new use for it when Will nudges his shoulder.

“Take it.” He says. Leo looks at him, wide eyed. “Seriously, take it. Make something with it. I see the gears turning in there. I’d love to meet it.”

Leo walks over to the metal and pokes around it. It’s surprisingly light and strong. It doesn’t bend when Leo presses on it. He glances back at Will.

“What if it turns bad?” He whispers. Will crouches next to him and sets a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t think it will-”

“But what if it does?”

“If it does,” Will inhales, “then we have protocols in place, and I’ll vouch for you. You won’t go back to the Isle.”

Leo looks back at the metal and decides. He takes a deep breath then picks it up and holds it over his head. They continue back to the castle and that night, Leo sketches up plans for a dog-sized dragon while Nico flips through his spellbook.


End file.
